Twenty-four years after 74-year-old Jean Ault’s body was discovered in the mangroves at Coquina Key Park, St. Petersburg detectives say her killer is still out there. The retiree vanished in March 2002 while she was getting ready for a camping trip, and now the case is back in the spotlight with fresh DNA testing and a family-funded reward on the table. Relatives and investigators are once again asking anyone who remembers Ault’s camper van or a missing Huffy bicycle from that spring to speak up, saying even a vague memory could finally crack the case.
Case details and timeline
According to FOX 13 Tampa Bay, Ault was last seen by a neighbor just before noon on March 23, 2002, after she returned a library book and continued packing for her camping trip. Her body was later found bound and beaten in the mangroves at Coquina Key Park. Investigators recovered her camper van at an apartment complex on 54th Avenue South.
FOX 13 Tampa Bay reports that the only item missing from her belongings was a Huffy-model bicycle, and that her nephew, Peter Forcinito, is offering a $10,000 reward for information that brings the family some closure. Neighbors told the station that Ault was active in neighborhood watch efforts, which made the brutality of the crime feel especially jarring.
Official record and tip line
The St. Petersburg Police Department case flyer lists the date of occurrence as March 23, 2002, and records the location as Coquina Key Skate Park. The flyer notes that Ault died of upper-body trauma and includes contact details for both the Homicide Unit and the police communications center for anyone with information.
Detectives are asking anyone with tips to call 727-893-7164 or use the Tip411 portal to submit information anonymously through the department’s system.
New DNA testing, no match yet
Detectives authorized new DNA testing on evidence from the case in 2025, hoping modern tools might reveal something older methods missed. So far, those tests have not produced a definitive hit, investigators say…